During a large part of his reign the King was engaged in building an
abbey or monastery at the west end of London, and hence called the
Westminster.[2] He had just completed and consecrated this great work
when he died, and was buried there. We may still see a part of the
original building in the crypt or basement of the abbey, while the
King's tomb above is the center of a circle of royal graves.
[2] Minster: a name given originally to a monastery; next, to a church
connected with a monastery; but now applied to several large English
cathedrals.
Multitudes made pilgrimages to King Edward's tomb, for the Pope had
enrolled him among the saints. Even now a little band of devoted
Catholics gather around his shrine every year. They go there to show
their veneration for the virtues and the piety of a ruler who would
have adorned a monastery, but had not breadth and vigor to fill a
throne.